Higgins took a 3-0 lead over Selby at the end of the first matchday of the Tour Finals, but Selby came back to win two games late in the afternoon to keep hopes alive for a comeback tonight at the Central Convention Centre in Manchester.

巫師希金斯一度佔據統治地位后，小醜塞爾比在第一階段尾聲連續轟出兩桿破百112分和136分，將本周個人破百總數刷新至十桿，為今晚的決戰注入了強勁勢頭。

這場搶十大戰的勝者將捧起冠軍獎盃並收穫15萬英鎊獎金，兩位選手都志在首度加冕該項賽事冠軍。

下月將年滿50歲的蘇格蘭名將希金斯，上個月剛在玉山世界公開賽終結四年冠軍荒，如今有望實現賽季雙冠偉業。他在中國創造的這項紀錄（首冠與最近一冠間隔時間最長紀錄）有望在今晚繼續刷新——距離他1994年大獎賽首奪排名賽冠軍已過去30年165天。

This is the 41th time in Higgins' career that he has reached the final of a ranking tournament, and he will be aiming for his 0th title. If he can win the championship, the gap between him and Stephen Hendry's 0 crown record will be narrowed to three crowns, but it is still far behind O'Sullivan's 0 crown record.

目前在世界排名暫列第六的希金斯若奪冠，將超越塞爾比升至第三；即便獲得亞軍6萬英鎊獎金，其排名也將升至第四。

Selby is aiming for a fourth title of the season, having already won the British Open (5-0 win over Higgins), the Champions League and the Welsh Open.

這位41歲的萊斯特名將若能第25次問鼎排名賽，就將追平尼爾羅伯遜並列歷史第七。在其與希金斯26次交鋒中，塞爾比取得了16場勝利。

In terms of the progress of the game, Higgins won the first game with three hands, and Selby immediately cleared the table with a stunning 57 to return the color. Higgins then hit back-to-back 0 and 0 points to take a 0-0 lead. He also had the last laugh in the fifth game of tug-of-war, which lasted 0 minutes, and few would have imagined that the wizard would still be able to show off his might in Selby's territory.

當希金斯用單桿102分將優勢擴大至5-1時，勝利似乎近在咫尺。但素有“逆轉王”之稱的塞爾比接連轟出112分和136分兩桿破百，將比分追至3-5。

也正是這關鍵時刻的連桿破百，將分差縮小至兩局，這就意味著勝負還是個未知數，但如果這兩局被打成1-1或者對手2-0，比賽的走勢會成為另一種格調。接下來的11局，塞爾比需要拿下其中的7局，有難度，但並不代表沒有機會。